Shareholders commended the board and management of Lafarge Africa Plc on its recommended N15.855 billion dividend for the year ended December 31, 2014. This equates to 360 kobo/share, 9% higher than in 2013.
Chairman of Lafarge Africa, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye, said EBITDA rose by 16% in Nigeria compared to 2013. “All Nigerian entities showed strong growth with Ashaka Cement doubling its EBITDA following coal substitution increasing from 35% to 70% and overall increasing in operational efficiency by 91% and WAPCO by 8%,” he said.
He said the medium- to long-term outlook remains positive for Lafarge South Africa Holding (LSAH) and demonstrates the advantages of having added Lafarge South Africa to the Group.
“Our cement production capacity has grown from 4.5 million tons to about 12 million tons. In addition, 3.5 million cubic meters of ReadyMix concretes and over 5.0 million tons of Aggregates have been added to the portfolio. Turnover has doubled from N100 billion to N200 billion and the EBITDA has grown from N36 billion to N55 billion. N99 billions of cash was generated from operations in 2014,” he said.
Group MD/CEO, Lafarge Africa Plc, Guillaume Roux attributed the performance of the company to management’s commitment to corporate governance, innovation, customer service and cost efficiency.
Osunkeye, who retired after the AGM, expressed his gratitude to all stakeholders and urged them to extend the same level of support to his successor, Mobolaji Balogun.
